My current research question is, can the methods of survival in The Martian by Andy Weir provide a solution for survival on the surface of Mars for humans in real life? My project is going to be a literature review. I will be researching data collected from the Mars rovers over the past few years and noting what is needed to survive and the limits of what is and isn't survivable on Mars. I will then compare this research to the methods of survival and descriptions of the environment mentioned in the book to see how accurate the novel is.
My research project is complete! I have finished analyzing my data and presented my findings in my research presentation. I was not surprised by my data, but I found a few elements of the analysis particularly interesting. As I explained in my last post, I analyzed my data in a few different ways.
The first was by dividing the data up into the five categories that I annotated: travel, environment, survival, technology, and other (Fig. 1). The category with the most data points was technology at 38%. This did not surprise me because of the number of technological devices needed for the journey to Mars and to allow humans to survive on its surface.
The second way that I chose to organize my data analysis was by the three major science disciplines: biology, chemistry, and physics (Fig. 2). I included an other category for this analysis as well because not all the data points fit into one of these three categories. I was once again not surprised by the results. The category with the most data points was other at 40.7%. The second highest was physics, at 23.1%.
Finally, I analyzed my data for its accuracy. I chose this analysis because it answered my research question. I was delighted to discover that my data supports my hypothesis. Based on the results of this final analysis (Fig. 3), the novel is 66.7% accurate. The rest of the book was either inaccurate at 15.7% or unknown at 17.6%. If the fact was considered unknown, I could not find evidence to prove or disprove its accuracy. This category mainly consisted of facts such as the amount of time a full manned mission to Mars would take. Since this has not yet been attempted, there is no way to know whether or not it is correct.
My results have proven my hypothesis that the novel would be more scientifically accurate compared to other science fiction novels. I hope that this research can be beneficial as we work towards our goal of sending humans to Mars. With the accurate descriptions of different survival methods included in the novel, scientists can utilize this information to plan a manned mission to Mars. I also believe that this could be a valuable teaching tool. Science fiction has been proven to help students better understand a topic as they look at the correct and incorrect elements of the novels. I hope to continue exploring this topic through future research. This would include analyzing similar books for their scientific accuracy and comparing them to the accuracy of past science fiction novels that are less realistic. I am excited to see where these future projects will lead me!